Maharashtra cabinet faces differences in view over the the location of the proposed National Law University

Updated on: Friday, February 22, 2013

Maharashtra Cabinet discussed the issue of setting up a National Law University in the State but no final decision was taken in view of differences over the location of the proposed institute.

Competing voices from Ministers on regional lines over the location issue resulted in keeping the decision of giving a green signal to the proposal in abeyance, sources said.

The State Government had decided to set up the Law University, modelled on Bangalore-based National Law School, in Aurangabad or at Uttan near Mumbai.

In the Cabinet meeting, Ministers from Vidarbha pointed out that 40 per cent of the total seats were vacant in higher education courses, including engineering.

"If there are not enough faculty for engineering courses, from where will you get faculty for law?" the Ministers from Vidarbha asked and said the Law University should be based in Nagpur.

The location issue got mired in controversy when Chief Minister's Office (CMO) issued a press statement saying that the Cabinet had decided to set up the National Law University in Aurangabad, Central Maharashtra.

Several Ministers, on condition of anonymity, said Chief Minister Prithviraj Chavan was in favour of setting up the varsity in Mumbai and expressed surprise over the CMO statement mentioning Aurangabad as the final site.

After Chavan's announcement that the university will come up in Mumbai, Ministers from Marathwada met the CM separately. "The Chief Minister told them that the decision on the issue has been kept in abeyance," the sources said.

Higher and Technical Education Minister Rajesh Tope pointed out that to have the varsity in Aurangabad was an old Cabinet decision.

"The Government had acquired 50 acres of land in Koradi (Aurangabad) for the purpose. The argument that there is no faculty in Aurangabad is not correct. We are not opposed to have the university in Uttan but it is too far from Mumbai," he added.

Later, the CMO issued a clarification, saying the issue of setting up of the law university was discussed in the Cabinet but no decision was taken.

Maharashtra cabinet faces differences in view over the the location of the proposed National Law University

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